Flippin' For Flea Markets!

Flea Market Flip Taping at One of the Vendor's Booths

It's hard to resist a good flea market on a late Spring day; we had the good fortune of perusing the wares at the Elephant's Trunk Flea Market in New Milford CT last weekend. In addition to all the usual antiques and collectables the vendors bring, they happened to be shooting a few episodes of HGTV's Flea Market Flip that day on the grounds. 

We watch the show, so it was kind of neat to see the process, and to see the host Lara Spencer (you may know her from Good Morning America, or the Oscars Red Carpet etc). Anyway, evidently she's a big flea market/antiques/yard sale buff (you may even remember her from Antiques Roadshow some years back), and she seems genuinely nice, down-to-earth in person. 

Host Lara Spencer Chats With Spectators . . .

But we don't go to flea markets for Hollywood excitement; we go for the goodies! These days, I'm usually shopping for outdoor items, gardening stuff and lately, illustration art for inspiration.  A few flea market rules - go early (gates open at 7am), wear comfy shoes and sunscreen, be prepared to get dusty, make a few passes (you always miss things the first time through) and most of all have fun! 

The Elephant's Trunk Flea has a bit of everything, from antiques to mid-century modern, kitschy collectables, weird and wonderful, plants and veggies, etc. You name it, you can probably find it there:

http://www.etflea.com/_/Home.html

Among our finds were some very pretty original greeting card illustrations (we picked a few out of a virtual boxload). These appear to be done in gouache, and are small - they were done in actual size to fit on a greeting card:

 And I was able snag a couple of garden-related things too - a handmade birdhouse (one of a collection to go on top of my trellis), a wrought-iron plant hanger, and a hose holder (which was a steal at five bucks. I saw the exact same one new at Lowe's for $29.95 later that day).

 So it was a pretty good day all around.  The appeal of the Flea is hard to resist; we will definitely be back at least a few more times this season. Thanks to global warming (or so it appears), the Elephant's Trunk now runs every Sunday (weather-permitting) through the first week of December, so there's plenty more opportunities to search for hidden treasures at the Trunk!